Nests of Flicker and Downy Wood- 
pecker in the Same Stub. 
BY O. C. M AXFIELD, WILLARD, NEW YORK. 
In the spring of 1884, while camping on the 
Oneida river, about three miles above its junc- 
tion with the Seneca, I fortunately found a 
prize in a small, rotten, soft-maple stub, which 
was about eight feet high and ten inches in 
diameter. The stub was standing near the 
water among a lot of scraggly swamp bushes, 
that usually grow at the margin of this stream. 
Just back of this stub was a small grove of 
walnut (hickory) trees. There was a pathway 
made by cattle, passing within five feet of the 
stub. 
At a distance of four feet above the ground 
was a Golden Flicker’s ( Golaptes auratus ) nest. 
Just above, about ten inches more, was a nest 
of the Downy Woodpecker ( Picus pubescens). 
The stub was so decayed that I picked away 
the wood with my fingers to get the eggs. 
The Flicker's nest was eight inches in depth ; 
the Downy's live inches, and both were entirely 
worked out by the birds and seemed to be 
freshly built. The Flicker’s nest contained 
eight eggs, incubation about one week. In the 
| nest of the Downy were five eggs, all fresh. 
When I had obtained the eggs from both of 
the nests, the whole top of the stub had been 
picked away, leaving about four feet still stand- 
I ing. and in the top of it was a slight convexity : 
the bottom of the Flicker’s nest. 
The nests of the Flicker are common in that 
; part of Oswego County, but this is the only 
time I have ever observed the Downy nesting 
| j there. The latter are to be seen at all seasons 
: j of the year and probably breed in some num- 
bers. 
In the spring of 1885, I was again on my way 
up the Oneida and passing the stub I found a 
Crow Blackbird had taken possession of it and 
[ had built her nest in the top. I was very near 
the bird before she flew off and could not be 
mistaken in such a common bird. I took a set 
! of four eggs from the nest. 
This nest was very light and flimsy as com- 
pared with other nests of the same species. It 
| appeared to be only lining, and was totally 
; lacking the coarser outside material that is 
! usually found in their nests. In fact some 
parts of the wood of the stub were plainly visi- 
ble through the nest. 
XIII. Sep t. 1888 P.13G 
The Partridge Woodpecker is very fond 
of nuts, and manages to secure a good / Ha\/U. 
many of them even after the snow has f^XZ 
fallen, digging out of old stumps and from q 
under the bark of fallen trees. When 
there is no snow, which is the greater part /m /. 
of the winter here in eastern Massachu- f^o 
setts, he confines his operations mostly to 
ant-hills, and manages to do considerable 
execution, if the contents of his stomach 
is to be relied upon. 
skinning was found to have a deep dent in the 
dome of the skull, much like one so frequently 
made in Derby hats; a wl - n - 1T , u l l 
than all ihu uthui^— Jha -cn i ac of another 
I found dead in an excavation 
formerly occupied by one of his species as a I 
nest. This was on February 22, 1886, and the j 
feet of the bird were frozen to a sheet of 
ice on the floor of the cavity. Undoubtedly 
the bird had taken refuge there during a rain- 
storm, and a sudden change of temperature 
had frozen the little water that had blown in 
by the wind, and thus the poor bird was im- 
prisoned until his deafjj. 
O.&O. XlV.May.lSB9 P. ' Harry Gordon White , 
Amesbury,_Mass., April 10, 1889 . . 
Birds of Dea.d River Region.Me. F.H.O. 
75. Golaptes auratus, (Yellow-shafted Flicker). 
Common around the farms at Eustis and Stratton 
as well as farther south. Nesting habits as else- 
where ; seen in large flocks in the pastures in 
September 
O.&O. XI. Nov. 1886. p. 1Q3 
Birds TSQga Oo, N.Y. Aides Lor ine, 
378. Yellow-shafted Flicker. Common. 
Arrives here about the fifteenth of March. Its 
nest is built after the manner of the other 
Woodpeckers in a dead tree. About the last of 
May the female commences laying. The usual 
number of eggs are seven. They are of a clear, 
glossy, white color. A set of seven in my col- 
lection measures 1 1-8 in. by 7-8 in., 1 1-8 in. 
by 7-8 in., 1 5-36 in. by 7-8 in,, 1 1-8 in. by 7-8 
in, 1 1-8 in. by 7-8 in., 1 1-8 in. by 7-8 in., 
1 1-8 in. by 7-S in. The food of these birds 
consists of larvae. As the middle of October 
I draws near these birds get ready to depart. 
At this time they may be found in the fields 
and orchards living on bugs and wild cherries. 
About the middle of October they leave for 
thesouth. 
Oa&Qt XV, ?uns, 1890, p.©5 
Novel Nesting-sites of Woodpeckers {Colaftes auratus and Mel- 
anerpes erythrocefhalus .') — Having often wondered where the above-named 
birds breed when seen on the open prairies forty or fifty miles from any 
timber the whole summer, I promised some farmer boys a suitable reward 
if they would find their nests anywhere outside of hollow trees and was 
most agreeably rewarded in being shown two nests of the Golden-winged 
Woodpecker and one of the Red-headed in rather queer quarters. One 
nest of the former was in an old wagon hub, about two feet from the ground, 
and hidden by a rank growth of weeds. The other was in a hollow formed 
by two large willow-sticks that formed part of a hay roof over a cattle-shed. 
The nest of the Red-head was in the angle formed by the shares of an 
upturned plow. In no instance was there any attempt at nest-building, 
the newly-hatched young ones resting on some dirt and rubbish. — G. S. 
Agersborg, Vermillion, Dakota. Bull. N.O.C, Q^APril, 1881, p. /ZO . 
